Octopus Diet

At the ends of the arms of Octopus are suction cups. They contain sensors that allow them to taste their food. These animals are very particular about the overall taste of their food. They will pass up a meal that is readily available if they don’t care for the way it tastes. This will occur even if they are very desperate for food in order to survive.

What do octopus eat?

They mainly consume mollusks and crustaceans. They are also known to eat various types of fish and snails.
Sometimes they will also feed upon smaller species of Octopus that are around them when they can’t find enough other food sources for survival.
They have a very strong and powerful beak on their mouths that they use to get prey and to rip them apart. They will swallow chunks of food whole.

Many of the types of foods that the Octopus consume have shells on them. They are able to get their food source out of the shells before they eat them.
When they aren’t able to, they release a type of toxin from the body that will quickly dissolve the tissues that connect it to the shell.

This type of behavior is one that they make seem very easy. Yet researchers find it to be very complex in nature.

Somehow these creatures know if they need to use the toxins and how much. With some prey, they will create two holes and put the toxin into each of them. With others, they only drill one hole. It is believed that they have some instinctive connection for what they should do to benefit from the meal in front of them.

Most of the time Octopus will feed during the night time. They are able to see well in the dark, murky waters which gives them the advantage over their prey. They will hunt during the day though when they are very hungry and an opportunity presents itself. They are amazing predators. Since they can blend in so well to their surroundings they are able to get close to prey without being recognized.

The use of the suction cups on the arms is another way that they are able to capture their prey. There is a sticky type of residue here among the webbing that makes it virtually impossible for the prey to getaway. The foods that they do consume go through the esophagus and then directly up into the brain area. Then they are carried back down the body into the digestive system.

Octopus Feeding Method?

When Octopus bite their prey, they inject a powerful venom into it. This usually won’t kill the prey but it is enough to immobilize it. That way the prey isn’t thrashing around and fighting back as they are trying to consume it.

Most living creatures tend to eat more before they lay eggs or give birth. For the female Octopus though they don’t eat for about a month before they young are born. They spend all of their time trying to defend the eggs from predators, keeping them clean, and at the right temperature. By the time the young are born they are close to death themselves.

They don’t care for their young when they hatch or teach them to hunt. Instead, the young offspring go to the surface of the water where they will hunt for plankton. As they get bigger and older they will move towards the bottom of the ocean where they will consume the other types of foods mentioned here. Hunting for prey is very instinctive for them though from the moment they come out of the egg.

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Octopus and Fishing

There are two sides to consider when it comes to Octopus and commercial fishing. Octopus are found in all oceans around the world but what you will capture really depends on the location. With more than 300 species of them identified they are very diverse. Some Octopus are found in shallow waters but the majority of them are several hundred feet below the surface.

It is no secret that Octopus is a very common food item in many parts of the world. It is used to create a variety of dishes, and it is often part of the main course. Yet there are plenty of recipes that allow it to be used for an appetizer or as a side dish too. The versatility of it as well as consumer demand means that plenty of money can be made through commercial fishing for it.

Money To Be Made

The majority of Octopus captured for food takes place in Alaska and along the shores of Japan. There are very large pods used to capture them that are released off the sides of fishing boats. The pods are checked routinely and the capture brought on board. The yield can bring in lots of money for the captain and the crew because there are plenty of locations out there interested in buying Octopus.

In most locations though a permit has to be obtained in order to be able to legally take part in commercial fishing for Octopus. In an effort to ensure that their numbers remain high enough this is controlled. As the demand goes up though the cost of Octopus will continue to get higher and higher. It is a million-dollar annual operation though which is why so many commercial fishing operations do want to be involved with it.

Dangerous Work

The work can be very time consuming as well as extremely dangerous. It isn’t for those that aren’t physically able to handle working long hours in tough conditions. How long a boat will remain on the water before returning to shore depends on the location as well as how much Octopus they have been able to collect.

Developing better operations and equipment have helped to reduce the amount of time it takes to get a great capture of Octopus. It can be hard though to capture only a specific type of it. You have to be very specific about where you will be at in the water.

The Intelligence Of The Octopus Causes Problems

Octopus though can create quite a few problems for commercial fishing when it comes to other types of captures. They are very good at problem-solving so they can actually open up traps for crabs and other types of seafood. This can result in the pods set out by commercial fishermen yielding very little or nothing at all. When they are losing money due to the Octopus they aren’t very happy about it at all.

For the Octopus though this method offers them access to plenty of food without having to really hunt for it. They have excellent memories so once they learn how to open the traps and where they are located they will continue to return to them again and again. That is why trapping them becomes a priority with many of these commercial fishing operations. They need the Octopus to be out of the way so they can keep their volume up.

Unintended Injuries On The Octopuses

Octopus are known to be tangled up in netting and other types of commercial fishing equipment as well. While they aren’t the intended target they can easily drown as they struggle to break free. Their bodies can be severely injured as well so they are no longer able to move around and get prey as they must if they are going to survive.